An Acer ProCreator touchscreen display showing how a rough sketch was turned into a detailed artwork using the AI Drawing app. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News  

TAIPEI -- Acer is unveiling several new AI-powered hardware products at this year's massive Computex tech expo, with two gadgets in particular catching our attention because they look very useful.  

Artists on tight deadlines may want to check out Acer's new ProCreator Series touchscreen monitors and Acer's AI Drawing app. Meanwhile, people who frequently travel abroad may find the Acer AI TransBuds earbuds quite handy as for real-time voice translation.

Since ChatGPT rewrote the world of possibilities two years ago, tech firms have been scrambling to get AI into almost everything, but with mixed results and public reception. Acer, however, seems to have found new ways to integrate AI in its hardware that people may actually find useful.  

During a media preview of its latest products ahead of Computex, the Taiwanese tech giant demoed a 32-inch, 6K, touchscreen using Acer's AI Drawing app that instantly transformed rough sketches and doodles into very detailed artworks that seemed right out of a 3D animated series or comic book.  

Acer's AI Drawing app is used to turn a rough sketch into something resembling the Taipei 101 building. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News

A stack of rectangles became a colored sketch that resembles the Taipei 101 skyscraper, while a rough sketch of a face was turned into a CG painting of a girl complete with colors and textures. Users can also use text prompts to modify the image, adding details or completely new elements to the artwork.

Of course, these capabilities are not exactly new to anyone who has been dabbling in Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and other AI image generators like Canva, but my understanding is that unlike these other apps which are cloud-based and require you to be online, Acer's app does the AI magic on the device itself--be that a laptop or desktop.

Other hardware vendors may be offering apps with the same capabilities, but this was the first time I've seen this feature demoed, and I was really impressed. While the AI magic admittedly happens on the app, Acer said creators such as animators, photographers, editors, and designers who demand precise color accuracy and visual clarity for creative projects.   

Acer says its IA-powered earbuds can translate 15 languages. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News 

Instant translation

Another interesting use of AI was the instant translation feature of Acer's latest earbuds, dubbed AI TransBuds.

If you've ever traveled to a country that speaks limited English, you know how handy these earbuds could be. Granted that Google Translate has been around for years, it's not always ideal to have to speak simple sentences or phrases to a phone and have it translate what you said after a second or so.

Acer meanwhile, says its new earbuds translate voice in real time via AI-based speech recognition and semantic analysis. The buds only need to be connected to a smartphone or tablet for real-time, two-way voice translation.

"Notably, only one person needs to wear the earbuds to carry out effective translation, making it ideal for casual conversations, business meetings, livestreams, or online study sessions," Acer said in the product description.

Users can also expect live captioning and transcription, so that they can follow conversations in real time and review them later on, Acer said.

"The system currently supports 15 major languages spoken across Asia, the Americas, and Europe," the company said.

I wanted to test out the earbuds during the media preview on Sunday, but there was not enough time as the venue was already about to close. Hopefully, I'll get to test it later at Computex, which is one of the biggest tech expos on the planet. 

Computex officially opens on Tuesday, May 20 this year and will last until May 25, Friday.

ERRATUM: Acer staff has clarified that the AI TransBuds are better suited for app-based voice communications like Teams, Zoom, and others. For face-to-face voice translation, both parties would need to have the special earbuds.